{"id":324458,"date":"2025-12-19T10:32:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:32:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/324458\/"},"modified":"2025-12-19T10:32:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:32:13","slug":"misunderstanding-led-to-solent-meads-golf-course-campaign-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/324458\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Misunderstanding&#8217; led to Solent Meads golf course campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766093349_415_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/f50f5900-d502-11f0-949c-45d05c88eada.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Des Blenkinsopp \/ Geograph Three golfers with golf carts walking on the gold course at Solent Meads. In the background are neighbouring houses - large dormer bungalows with pitched roofs and two-storey modern houses with balconies.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>Des Blenkinsopp \/ Geograph<\/p>\n<p>The lease for Solent Meads will be re-tendered in 2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Fears about the closure of a golf course and a subsequent campaign to save it were based on a &#8220;misunderstanding&#8221;, councillors have said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Thousands signed a petition to save Solent Meads in Southbourne after Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council (BCP) said it was reviewing the future of the site.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">At a meeting on Wednesday, cabinet members approved a biodiversity scheme for council owned land at Erlin Farm, Millhams Mead and at Solent Meads &#8211; excluding the golf course.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">As part of the same vote, councillors also agreed that &#8220;improving nature&#8221; should form part of the re-tendering of the golf course lease, which expires in November 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Solent Meads has been leased and operated by Golf for All for 22 years.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Director Matthew Steward, who launched the petition, told the meeting: &#8220;When we were informed in November that there would be no more golf at Solent Meads, we were outraged on behalf of the people who use the facility.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;I&#8217;m pleased that, due to the strong opposition from residents and the representation of our local councillors, golf is now back on the table.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1766093349_415_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/10c15810-d503-11f0-949c-45d05c88eada.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Des Blenkinsopp \/ Geograph A telephoto shot of Christchurch Priory in the distance, with a putting green and an orange flag of Solent Meads gold course in the foreground. The priory church is a huge stone medieval building with a square tower at one end.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>Des Blenkinsopp \/ Geograph<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Improving nature&#8221; will form part of the re-tendering of golf facilities<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">BCP consultants previously identified the three sites as having potential to generate Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) units &#8211; credits which are sold to developers to offset the impact of developments.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">East Southbourne and Tuckton councillor Bernadette Nanovo said, after hearing about the scheme, &#8220;it soon became apparent that the golf was at risk&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;Our opposing voices were soon backed up by the Hengistbury Head residents&#8217; association and 8,000-plus people who signed the petition,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Summing up, environment councillor Andy Hadley said: &#8220;The views were based on a misunderstanding &#8211; we hadn&#8217;t made a decision and golf was always part of the consideration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;We are looking to improve the biodiversity and, quite separately, we need to look at re-procuring the leisure opportunity on that site.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Des Blenkinsopp \/ Geograph The lease for Solent Meads will be re-tendered in 2026 Fears about the closure&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324459,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-324458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324458","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324458"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324458\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324458"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324458"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324458"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}